Worthington PD reports scam featuring explicit photos

The Worthington Police Department reports that two different Worthington residents have received extortion scams recently.

In both of the scams, the victims began talking to an unknown person on social media. The unknown person then eventually sent an explicit picture of male genitals to the victims. The unknown person also threatened victims by telling them they were going to report that person to the police or to a news media outlet and claim the victim sent that photograph to a minor, or that the victim was involved with the sexual assault of a child. This was then followed by a demand for money.

The WPD said the scammers prey on people using social media for dating and meeting new people, adding that the scams can be hard to avoid since the scammer "starts out acting normal until the demand for money is made."

People are advised to cut off all communications with the scammer in the event of receiving a message like this, and then blocking them on social media. It's also recommended that screenshots be taken of all communication with the scammer in the event they try to make a false claim.